It's understood Sam Allardyce is ready to take a massive gamble on the ex-Newcastle star in a bid to turn results around for the east London side.

And former manager Bonds claims, even if the 24-year-old returns to first-team action in the coming weeks, West Ham need to sign another striker in January.

“I don’t know what Andy Carroll’s injury prognosis is but, once the transfer window comes around, they’ll have to get some back-up for him,” he told Hawksbee and Jacobs. “When you’ve been out for so long you can get compensation injuries. They know they need back-up for him.”

Sam Allardyce has come under fire from various sections of the Upton Park faithful following some poor results this season but Bonds added West Ham should stick with the ex-Bolton man as he’s the perfect man for the job.

“They need to get the squad back fit again but I don’t see them having a problem [with relegation],” he added. “If you’re talking about firing people, it’s a modern day thing, you have three of four bad results and you get sacked.

“You only have to look at Mick McCarthy at Wolves. He got them promoted, they sacked him, have gone through two or three managers and are now in League One.

“It’s too easy to sack people. If you want a man to get you out of trouble then it would be Sam Allardyce.”